Pillar

Fintech

The technology underneath money — Plaid, payment rails, instant settlement, card networks and the businesses built on them.

You click connect, type your bank login, and the app just works. Here's the actual machinery — and how Plaid makes money sitting in the middle.

FedNow, RTP, Fedwire and ACH all move money — but they settle in completely different ways. Here's what actually happens behind 'instant.'

Brex and Ramp give the software away free and still make money. The answer is interchange — the fee hiding on every card swipe.